The former chief of the IDF’s Combat Training Department, Benny Amidror, said that Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists are “higher quality” fighters than Israeli soldiers, in an interview with Israeli radio on Tuesday.

Describing the IDF as an “amateur army,” Amidror told Israel’s 103 FM that the terrorists’ individual and unit training is better than those of elite units in the IDF because they “serve longer than our mandatory service soldiers and practice more than IDF soldiers.”

He also said that terrorists have a new “fighting spirit” that hadn’t existed before.

According to Amidror, terrorists have another advantage: “Their life is a lot simpler. They’re there in one place, near their homes. All they need to do is go into their tunnel.”

IDF soldiers, on the other hand, train for a range of situations, he says.

“The end result, if you look at the bottom line, is that the IDF does not dare cross the border into Gaza.”

Amidror, however, had praise for the Israeli Border Police, which he said has “high self-esteem and are willing to endanger themselves more than IDF soldiers.”

“The Border Police can do things better than the army,” he said.

Amidror’s comments are identical to those he made in late January and were quoted at length in Israeli daily Maariv.

Amidror is the author of many books on military doctrine. Maariv notes that “In 1989, Arik Sharon gave Amidror his autobiographical book Warrior and wrote a dedication: ‘To Benjamin Amidror, the major who teaches generals, with great friendship.'”

Amidror is the brother of Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, Israel’s former National Security Adviser. His son served as commander of the paratrooper brigade during the Second Lebanon War.